Washington — Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska on Wednesday urged her colleagues in Congress to reassert their constitutional authority and stand up to President Trump if he withholds funding approved by lawmakers through his mass firings of federal workers or severe cuts to federal agencies.
“If the president, for instance, should should seek to withhold federal funding that has already been authorized and appropriated, that violates the Budget Act, it violates the Impoundment Act and it cannot be allowed to stand. And so, if we in Congress allow that, we effectively cede some of our authority, and so, your question as to, what do we do about it? We have to stand up,” she said in a virtual town hall with constituents.
“Now, the ‘we’ has to be more than just me. And this is where it becomes more of a challenge, but it requires speaking out. It requires saying, ‘That violates the law. That violates the authorities of the executive,'” she said.
The Alaska Republican said Congress has an “obligation to the Constitution” that requires “speaking out and standing up, and that requires, again, more than just one or two Republicans — it requires us as a Congress to do so.”
Murkowski is a moderate Republican who has been in the Senate since 2002 and won reelection despite longstanding differences with Mr. Trump. She said more than 1,000 people dialed into the call, and that all questioners were concerned about the Trump administration’s cuts, which are being spearheaded by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. Alaska has one of the highest concentrations of federal government workers per capita outside the Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia region.
Kayla Bartkowski / Getty Images
Most Republican lawmakers have so far shown little interest in objecting as the Trump administration tries to whittle down agencies established and funded by Congress.
On the war in Ukraine, Murkowski said “we were all more than a little bit stunned” by what she called a “radical switch” in the president’s rhetoric about the war and Russia. Mr. Trump this week referred to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a “dictator” and wrongly blamed Ukraine for Russia’s invasion, while his top aides met with Russian representatives in Saudi Arabia about the war without inviting Ukrainian officials.
Murkowski said she thought Mr. Trump’s comments about Zelenskyy were “uncalled for and unfortunate.”
“It is wrong to suggest that somehow or other Ukraine started this war, asked for this war. It is clear for all the world to see and to know that Putin invaded Ukraine and started the war,” Murkowski said.
Mr. Trump has repeatedly said Russia wants to end the war, without mentioning that Russia started the conflict and could end it at any point by withdrawing troops from Ukraine. Asked if he trusts Russia to negotiate in good faith on ending the war, the president said he does.
“I do, I think the Russians want to see the war end,” the president said. “And I do, I really do. But I think they have the cards a little bit because, you know, they’ve taken a lot of territory, so they have the cards.”
A handful of other Republicans have expressed their disagreement with Mr. Trump’s stance on Russia and Ukraine, without directly crossing the president.
“Russia’s the aggressor here,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Wednesday.
“Putin started this war,” Republican Rep. Don Bacon wrote on X Wednesday. “Putin committed war crimes. Putin is the dictator who murdered his opponents. The EU nations have contributed more to Ukraine. Zelensky polls over 50%. Ukraine wants to be part of the West, Putin hates the West. I don’t accept George Orwell’s doublethink.”
Murkowski separately told CBS News at the Capitol earlier Wednesday she has been hearing from lots of constituents, including employees who have been working in federal service for years or decades. She said she heard from one woman who used to work for her before accepting a position with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Because the woman received a promotion, Murkowski said, she was considered a probationary employee and was terminated. Now the woman has a “black mark” on her record, Murkowski said.
“She’s been terminated and given no opportunity to appeal it, no opportunity to even think about it,” Murkowski said. “You get a notice on Friday saying you’re gone. Now that, to me, doesn’t demonstrate much, much due process. But even more to it, it doesn’t show respect for those who have worked hard as federal servants.”
